CAPE GIRARDEAU - A victory over the Southeast Missouri State University football team was the first order of business Saturday. The second was to secure a top seed in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

With a 42-24 win over the Redhawks, the 10-1 Salukis think they've accomplished that.

"I think any time you have 10 wins and win the Missouri Valley outright, that's a pretty good argument to get a top seed or a high seed," said SIU coach Dale Lennon.

The top two seeds in the 16-team tournament are assured of home games, as long as they keep winning, until the Dec. 18 national championship game at Chattanooga. Only four teams are seeded. The third and fourth seeds are guaranteed two home games, providing they win the first.

"I think we deserve one of the top two," Lennon said. "If we don't get one, naturally we'll be disappointed. It still comes down to you have to win that first game regardless, so I'm not going to get too uptight. I just want to know who we are playing and get ready for game week."

Although winning at SEMO was priority one, the players were well aware of what was on the line Saturday.

"Definitely," said linebacker Brandin Jordan. "I've been telling guys since the Northern Iowa game that every game we play is the biggest game of the season. Now, at this point, it definitely is."

In terms of playoff seeding, Jordan is ready to let the defense rest.

"I think we made our case for the top seed, but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter," he said. "We've been unranked before without a top seed and came into the playoffs and wreaked havoc. This is my last year, so I'm not accepting anything less."

The Salukis secured the Missouri Valley Football Conference's automatic berth when they won Nov. 7 at South Dakota State. The team will watch the selection show today not worrying about whether they will be in the playoffs.

"We'll sit there and have a nice time with my boys, celebrate the win and just watch the show," said Deji Karim, who ran for 155 yards in Saturday's season finale. "Whatever happens, happens, but we're just happy to get to this point. We just want to keep taking care of business from here."

Lennon said knowing that the Salukis have playoff berth wrapped up made Saturday night more comfortable.

"I think when you're at large you put it to a committee so anything can happen at that point in time," he said. "It's good to control your destiny. I think that's one thing our season has done for us. We have control of our destiny right now. Now, it's just a matter of us taking care of that opportunity."

The selection show will air on ESPNews at 2 p.m. today. The team will gather at Copper Dragon in Carbondale to watch the show. The public is invited. Doors open at 1 p.m.

les.winkeler@thesouthern.com / 618-351-5088

 

Related

• No. 1 gets No. 10